Hearing Him
by YukiHasAMercedes
Summary: Hearing voices is the first definite sign of insanity or of obsession. MalikxIshizu, Fearshipping.


Seriously, what is up with the lack of fearshipping? Gah. Fandom, you have disappointed me most severely. I expected more people out there to be as perverted as I am. Don't force me to provide all the content for this ship by myself, because I will if I have to.

Threats aside- I don't own Yuugiou and am not making any money from this work.

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Ishizu, for reasons not entirely clear even to herself, was up in the late hours of night, staring blankly into the depths of a glowing computer screen. The bleached light from the monitor was unnaturally bright in the darkness of her room, and she raised one hand to wearily rub her puffy eyes.

She should have been done compiling these files an hour ago- it was important that they be sent to the Domino Museum by this afternoon at the latest. The administration there wanted to have the majority of the Egyptian exhibit prepared for opening before Ishizu arrived in the country, and there were certain sections of her research which were crucial in order for that to happen. Yet Ishizu was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on her new job at the moment.

Part of that she blamed on the time- she had always been more of a morning bird than a night owl, anyway. But the truth was that her mind was fixed on something else entirely… some_one_ else.

Ishizu leaned back in her chair, running her fingers unconsciously across her Millennium Tauk- an old habit. Although it was too dark at the moment to see it, there was a calendar on the wall of her room counting down the number of days before she arrived in Domino. There were eighteen left. Eighteen days before she could establish herself at the museum. Eighteen days before she could meet with Seto Kaiba. Eighteen days before she took fate fully into her own hands and set it in motion.

Eighteen days before she gave herself the chance to save her brother.

Ishizu's mouth tightened into a hard line as memories flashed automatically past her eyes. Memories of that day- of that _thing_- that unknown, unseen force which had seized her brother, torn him away from her indefinitely. She remembered how Marik's eyes had shifted from shock and horror to seething with open hatred and a lust for destruction. She remembered how that monster had smirked as it raised the point of the Millennium Rod over her father's heart before plunging it down. She remembered the voice, harsh and mocking, that had pushed its way past her brother's lips.

Ishizu gripped the arm of her chair tightly, knuckles paling from the sudden strain.

How was it that she could remember that voice so vividly… yet, until barely a month ago, she had forgotten what the voice of her own brother sounded like?

It was true. When Ishizu had encountered Marik briefly after he had stolen the Winged Dragon of Ra, she had been stunned upon realizing that she had completely forgotten the sound of his voice. And yet, years later, she could recall the exact words that _thing_ had spoken. How was it that her brother had become a stranger to her, while the evil that dominated his body was completely familiar?

_/Because I'm inside your head, silly girl./_

Ishizu jerked back, her chair scuffing awkwardly against the floor. She knew who that voice belonged to… but that was impossible. Wherever that creature was now, it simply couldn't be speaking to her. She must be imagining things- the stress of all that was happening was finally getting to her.

_/If you're imagining things, it's only because you want to./_

Ishizu breathed deeply, held it, and exhaled very slowly. She would not let the voice intimidate her, not when it didn't even exist. She would not give it that satisfaction.

Privately, she wondered why she was hearing this… but a sinking feeling inside warned her that she already knew the answer.

_/You're not the first one who's been drawn to the darkness./_

The voice was all around her now, and yet somehow it was right next to her ear. She could feel it tickling the sensitive skin there, could visualize a pair of lips hovering just beside her head, hot breath blowing uncomfortably across her cheek. She shivered despite herself.

Was it true? Did she… could she actually want this?

_/You can't help yourself. You're too curious. It'll be your downfall in the end./_

An invisible hand seemed to trace her cheek, trail fingers through her hair. Ishizu swore she could smell a faint, musky scent- the scent she had grown up with, the scent of all things dark and underground and mysterious.

An involuntary shudder gripped her body. _Leave me alone_, she ordered silently.

A hollow, threatening laugh echoed through her mind.

_/You want me gone? I believe your body is telling me otherwise./_

A hand gliding up her arm, dancing over her shoulder, fingers probing teasingly at her collarbone…

Ishizu would not allow herself to scream, or to strike out childishly at what was not there. Summoning all of her concentration, she mentally pushed out against her phantom assailant.

**_Leave_**, she demanded.

A chill swept through the room, like a rush of wind, like the departure of some unseen spirit. Ishizu's mind suddenly seemed quiet, and deathly cold. She sighed, inexplicably exhausted.

"He'll be back," she murmured softly. Her words had a fatalistic edge to them, for she knew that the monster was right. She could not deny her grim fascination with him. Her desire to rid her brother of the evil that plagued him had some hidden meaning beneath it- she wanted to see what he was, this shadow, when his physical vessel was stripped away. She wanted to know who he _really _was.

She also realized, with no small sense of unease, that she was referring to it as a "him" now.

The computer screen shone with a glaring, monotonous light. Ishizu pulled her chair back in and slowly began to type, the clicking of keys reverberating dully into the chill silence that surrounded her.


End file.
